The Use of Vulgar Language by Muhammad
and his Companions

It is central in the Islamic faith to believe that Mohammed is
the best human Allah ever created, or will ever create. Allah
describes him in the Quran:

"And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character’
and gives a reason why Mohammed was such a great character."
[Q.68: 4]

"Nor does he say of his own desire." [Q.53: 3]

"It is no less than inspiration sent down to him." [Q.53: 4]

Mohammed himself explained why he was such a great man with
such great qualities in this hadith: ‘Allah brought me up to the
good manners and He did so well’.

Therefore, it is no surprise that the Quran wants mankind to
follow the example of Mohammed:

"Ye have indeed in the Messenger
of Allah a beautiful pattern of conduct." [Q.33: 21]

Muslims do not only believe that Mohammed had better manners
than any other human before or after him, but they also believe
that Mohammed is one of the most expressive and eloquent of his
time. Even some Muslims tend to associate miracles to his sayings
in the same way they associated miracles to the Quran, although
the majority of Muslims relate the miracles to the meaning of his
sayings (ahadith) rather than its language style.

A careful reading of Islamic history, written by Muslim
historians with inevitable bias towards Islam and its founder,
Mohammed, reveals some amazing findings. Mohammed and his
companions were not people with high integrity as Muslim scholars
want us to believe. This article will not address the issues of
tortures, assassinations, mass murders, or personal corruption
practiced widely by Mohammed and his companions. They are
important issues, but they had already been discussed in details
elsewhere. In addition, we will not delve into the Islamic wars
and power struggles that litter the Islamic history since
Mohammed’s death. In this article we will focus on the language
style used by Mohammed, the most eloquent, the best expressive,
and the best mannered human created by Allah, as Muslims want us
to believe.

Muhammad

The following hadith is reported by both Sahih Al-Bukhari and
Sunan Abu Dawud. It is certified as sahih (authentic) and refers
to the story of a Muslim man called Ma’ez who came to Mohammed
filled with guilt and admitting adultery:

When Maez came to the prophet pbuh, he (the prophet) asked him
‘ perhaps you kissed or touched or looked at her, he (Ma’ez) said
‘no, messenger of Allah’. He (the prophet) said ‘ aniktaha? (Did
you f*** her) and used no other word, he (Ma’ez) said yes, he (the
prophet) said until that from you disappeared inside that from
her? He (Ma’ez) said yes, and then he ordered him to be stoned (to
death).

When I read the word ‘aniktaha’ I did not believe my eyes, how
could Mohammed say something as rude as that? Al Bukhari must be a
very brave imam to accept to include it in his book. The word is an
extremely vulgar word in the Arabic language. You will find it
written in any Arabic book or paper, and you will never hear it in
any Arabic language radio or TV; it is just too rude!

How come that a man who is believed to be the most eloquent, the
best expressive Arab of his time could use such a rude and vulgar
language? Did he run out of words? Here, in this hadis Mohammed,
claimed to be inspired by Allah (Q.53: 4) caught red-handed using a
offensive language suitable only for people with bad manners.

If you ask ordinary Muslims about the above hadith, the chances
are they will admit they have never heard it before. But when you
ask Muslim scholars for an explanation, they will try hard to
justify it on the basis that the word was not considered so rude at
the time. Nevertheless, we know aniktaha has always been a very rude
word to the Arabs. In fact, the emphasis by the narrator of the
above hadith which Mohammed ‘used no other word’ is in itself an
indication that the narrator was aware of the obscenity of the word,
and possible disbelief of the readers. The absence of the word from
all decent Arabic literature or poetry is another indication of the
rudeness of the word.

Other Muslim scholars claim that Mohammed deliberately used the
word to make sure the man knew what he was talking about, because a
decision between life and death would have be taken. I find this a
laughable explanation, because Mohammed did not insist on such
clarity in other similar circumstances where decisions of stoning
were made. According to the above hadith, even after pronouncing the
offending word, Mohammed continued to demand more elaboration on the
sexual act by asking ‘until that from you disappeared inside that
from her’. Ma’ez was a man full with guilt that he couldn’t keep in
his chest; he turned to his moral leader to make his confession. He
is obviously a man in desperate need for help and support. Mohammed
exploited the man’s weakness and despair by asking him to elaborate
more on his sexual experience. All the help Ma’ez received from
Mohammed was mental torture, then cruel slow death by stoning.

Muhammad’s companions

The highly revered companions of Mohammed, known as sahaba, are
generally believed to be the best Muslims after Mohammed. Ten of
those sahaba were given a guarantee by Mohammed that they would go
to paradise. The fact that some of those sahaba actually killed each
other in the power struggles that followed Mohammed’s death, does
not ring alarm bells in Muslims’ minds. We also have historical
evidence that those sahaba also used vulgar language in the presence
and absence of Mohammed, who never reprimanded them for their
uncouth behaviour. Let us read the following from the books of sira
(Mohammed’s history) and other books of Islamic history:

Abu-Bakr was Mohammed’s closest friend; later he became the first
Caliph of Islam. The following incident took place when Mohammed was
massing an army outside Mecca in preparation to conquer the city.
Urwa Ibn Masoud, who was one of the chiefs of Quraysh (Mohammed’s
tribe), went to meet Mohammed outside Mecca to dissuade him from
attacking the city and his own tribe. Urwa gave a talk to remind
Mohammed that he (Mohammed) is, after all, belongs to Quraysh while
the people around him may sometime desert him. Abu Bakr heard that
but did not like it. He said to Urwa, "We desert him? Go and suck
the clitoris of the Al-Lat" (the goddess of Quraysh).
[Sources: The Sira Alnabawya by Ibn Hisham, Almaghazi by AlWakidi]

Uthman Ibn Affan, the third Caliph, once said to Ammar Ibn Yasser,
"You the one who bites the penis of his father" [Sources: Ansab Al-Ashraf
by Al Balathri, Attabakat Alkubra by Ibn S’ad]

Ibn Masoud heard a man looking for something in the mosque, he
shouted at him using obscene words, another man blamed Ibn Masoud
for saying such words, Ibn Masoud answered: "we were ordered (by
Mohammed) to do so!" [Source: Reported by Al Albani from Sahih Ibn
Khuzayma]

A man called Ajrad Al Tamimi had a dispute with Ubayy Ibn Ka’ab,
Ajrad said (with pride) ‘O the tribe of Tamim’, Ubayy answered him
may Allah make you bite the penis of your father. People said to
Ubayy, "we did not know you are rude’ he said ‘the prophet pbuh
ordered us to say that, and no other words, to people who behave
like Jahilia behavouir." [Reported by Ibn Asaker in History of
Damascus]